[TWSS]

I fought against the need to quit my job for over a year while I was working on startups on the side. It took an idea that I was wildly passionate about and a well-timed layoff to make me realize that being "all in" wasn't just a poker metaphor the already-successful used to look down on plebes like me.

That said, I'm stupidly well-placed to be working on my own idea, unpaid - I'm using the self-employment assistance program through my state's unemployment department to get UI checks without having to job hunt (I do, however, have to submit business plans and the like). I also have enough in the bank to cushion me when the government cheese runs out.

[mgkimsal]

What state are you in?

[TWSS]

Oregon. One of only a handful of states with self-employment assistance programs - the others are Delaware, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, AFAIK.

[dualogy]

That government cheese "ran out" decades ago in most countries ... but for some reason they keep dishing it out:

It's an incredible hack, really: the money you "have in the bank" (you don't have it, you lent it to your bank and they 'owe' it to you) lets them play with some multiple of that amount (10x? 2x? 100x? Don't know the exact figure.) They put that into some bonds or treasuries that creates "government debt" but gives the govt. cash to pay for an "self-employment assistance program" (and countless other "programs" as well as their own "cut"). The only however-unlikely risk? There could be a distant day in the future where both the govt. and the bank fail you at the very same instant without recourse -- of course, we're both hoping that day won't ever come -- but if it does, you will kindly not riot, deal?